Review: Kitty Hawk and the Hunt for Hemingway's Ghost by Iain Reading

(A huge thanks to the publicist and the author for sending me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

Kitty Hawk and the Hunt for Hemingway's Ghost is the exciting second installment in a new series of adventure mystery stories that are one part travel, one part history and five parts adventure. This second book in the series continues the adventures of Kitty Hawk, an intrepid teenage pilot who has decided to follow in the footsteps of her hero Amelia Earhart and make an epic flight around the entire world. After flying across North America Kitty's journey takes her down south to Florida where she plans to get a bit of rest and relaxation before continuing on with the rest of her long and grueling flight. As Kitty explores the strange and magical water world of the Florida Keys her knack for getting herself into precarious situations sweeps her headlong into the adventure of a lifetime involving mysterious lights, ancient shipwrecks, razor-toothed barracudas and even a sighting of the great Ernest Hemingway himself. This exhilarating story will have armchair explorers and amateur detectives alike anxiously following every twist and turn as they are swept across the landscape and history of the Florida Keys all the way from Key West to the strange and remarkable world of Fort Jefferson and the Dry Tortugas.

I'm really loving Kitty and she's fast becoming one of my favorite female characters in fiction. Like I said with book 1, I sometimes feel like Kitty is younger than she is but in truth, that has more to do with the kind of protagonists I normally read than with Kitty. Kitty reminds me of Nancy Drew, a more adventurous and relatable Nancy Drew actually. I love how driven she is and a how wonderful a role-model for those who read the books. I personally love the coneversations she has with herself the most! It's great to know i'm not the only person who does that.

Also this book deserves all the A+++++ for great parents. I love how her parents support her decision to fly around the world and how her dad helps her come up with a proper route. I enjoyed seeing her parents take active part in preparing her for the journey and the wonderful relationship they have with their daughter.

Kitty decides to take a little vacation at Florida Keys before she starts her Amelia Earhart inspired flying trip around the world. This is the land of Ernest Hemingway, where Kitty discovers his books, his residence and probably his ghost! I love how Kitty's mysteries are always complex. I loved how in book 1 the plot unraveled slowly, twists where you would least expect to see them. I'm pleased to say book 2 has been the same. The plot was complex and I loved how things were revealed slowly, making us mull over the mysterious happenings along with Kitty herself.

The one little problem I have in the series is that I didn't worry about my characters. Like when Kitty is getting into trouble I get excited but never worried because I know everything's going to be okay. I'd like to care more for her as the series progresses.

I love that we learn so much through these books, geography, history and so much more. I've learnt so much about Spaniard ships and Fort Jefferson in this book that I so enjoyed. Also another thing I love about these books is that, there is always a small mystery left unsolved; mostly of a supernatural nature. In book one it was the curse and here....read and find out!

I absolutely love the vivid descriptions of the places; the Fort, Ernst Hemingway's house, the coral reef, the boats in the story and basically just about everything. I feel the inner dialogue that Kitty has with herself has improved from book 1. I loved the dialogues in book 1 too but sometimes felt they were choppy. In this installment, I found that it flowed seamlessly along with the rest of the text.

- All the wonderful descriptions

- The knowledge in the book - geographical, historical and more

- The intriguing plot

- The fact that I can't myself caring much about my characters because I know it's all going to be fine.

While this is the second installment of the series, this works pretty great as a standalone too. This is the perfect read if you want a fun filled mystery that also has loads of knowledge within.